It was 2005, and Tiger Woods was about to win his second Open, at St Andrews. Shubhankar Sharma, who was 9 years old at the time, was up past his bedtime in India, watching the American for the first time on television. That, Sharma says, is when his admiration for the golf legend began. And on April 5, two of his dreams will come true: He will make his debut at the Masters Tournament, and he will compete against Woods.
Sharma has had an impressive 2017-18 season. He has climbed the rankings from 571 in November to 68 in March, after victories at the Joburg Open and the Maybank Championship and top-10 finishes in numerous championships.